History

In the Ottoman Empire, the prime minister of the Ottoman sultan held the title of Grand Vizier (Turkish: Sadrazam). After the Tanzimat period in the 19th century, the grand viziers came to assume a role more like that of the prime ministers of contemporary Western European monarchies. Later, with the Ottoman constitution of 1876, a parliament was established to oversee the prime minister, and the prime minister formed a cabinet. With the amendments to the constitution during the Second Constitutional Era, the prime minister was made answerable to the parliament rather than the sultan. Finally, with the declaration of the republic in 1923, the appointer of the prime minister became the president, instead of the sultan.